Federal Hotel — Restaurant in Alstonville

Six years ago I gave 3 stars and wrote; The staff are very friendly. The salt and togaraahi squid was exceptionally nice, as was the accompanying salad. The Ono schnitzel also was really good. Unfortunately the salad had no dressing whatsoever and was quite boring. The tbone was ordered med/rare and was bordering on well done. A bit of a disappointment for a birthday boy. The lamb cutlets were crunchy, but the crumb was really thick, and oily. The cutlet itself, tasteless as was the undressed salad that accompanied both dishes. Chips were nice, but had sat on the plate waiting for the meat to arrive, I think. Beautifully cold, great range of beers on tap.

Today, I changed that to 5 stars because of the food i received today and 4 weeks ago. The lamb cutlets i had 4 weeks ago were the best I've ever eaten. Crusty crumb, still blushing and juicy inside and delicious. The chips were crunchy, and the salad wasn't just leaves thrown together, but put together with an abundance of ingredients tastily dressed. The steak sandwich was a quality piece of trimmed rib fillet, cooked perfectly. Today the cutlets were cooked more but also thinner, but still worth the money. My wife had the nachos and her comment," these are the best nachos I've ever eaten." And nachos are a staple she often chooses. In-house made corn chips stayed crisp under the delicious and abundant toppings. Guacamole, sour cream, mince, cheese and salsa. The addition of juicy mung bean sprouts a stroke of deliciousness. Definitely worth the money to eat here. Nothing is skimpy and it...

I love this pub but the food service at the moment is a bit of a joke. A few weeks ago my partner and I ordered the 250g rump and added on the prawns in creamy garlic sauce for $8 so $37 in total. They obviously ran out of prawns because it came out as slices of calamari and those tiny shrimp prawns that you get in a chinese restaurant, it looked ridiculous. I really don't think its right to assume that a customer would be happy with calamari and baby shrimp when they ordered prawns... The next three times I've been there I have ordered Schnitzel with mashed potato and it has come out with chips instead which I can't eat at the moment. If the kitchen runs out of something that's fine, as long as you get told at the time you are ordering so you can order something else. Or at the very least, they come to find you at your table number to let you know they have run out of that item and ask if you would like to order something else. I don't normally say anything but after the 3rd time of this happening I asked for a refund. The staff there are all really friendly except the blonde woman who was rolling her eyes and swearing under her breath at the fact that I was upset that I hadn't received the food that I ordered. She kept blaming it on the young staff (who are all great). Not sure what is happening in the kitchen at the moment but it is really letting...

Was delighted when the family booked Mother's Day dinner at the Federal Hotel. Happy to be inside in the dining room but the corner table we were placed at had little lighting (having to use phone torches to read the menu). A candle on the table would have been a great idea. The menu read well with so many choices. I decided on the Signature chicken dish with champagne sauce. The chicken was cooked well but when the meal arrived to the table it was luke warm and everything was floating in sauce which was so cold it was starting to develop a skin on top. My husband ordered the Signature curry which looked lovely and hot and steamy but was so creamy he was unable to eat it. The menu advised it was served with coconut rice but underneath was a huge mound of mashed potato. Perhaps they had run out of rice but we were not advised of that when it was placed on the table. We were very disappointed and we do understand it was busy and the kitchen staff were under a lot of pressure but when you are paying for a signature dish you expect it to deliver and be of a certain standard! Sadly, I won't be tempted to eat...